As you may or may not be aware, the UEFA Champions League group stages start tomorrow (at the time of writing) with eight games on the first matchday.
If you’re unaware, the Champions League is the best club competition in the world (in my view), with the top teams from all over Europe playing off against each other to see who comes out on top.
Note: The times listed in the image below are Australian time, and yes… being a soccer fan in Australia means a lot of early mornings and late nights.
As you can see, there’s some cracking games in this fixture list, I’ll quickly go through every game and give you one or two players to watch from each match, along with a link to their cards on eBay.
Zenit vs Club Brugge
Ah, the big game we’re all waiting for….
Kidding, but still, there’s some great young players on display here. Russia and Belgium both have leagues that are stronger than most fans would assume. This Club Brugge team especially has a few guys to look out for.
Player to watch: Krepin Diatta is a guy that I’ve got my eye on with a great start to the season.
Dynamo Kyev vs Juventus
Juventus have stumbled at the start of this season and it’ll be Pirlo’s first foray into the Champions League as a manager…. Funnily enough against the manager that gave him his professional playing debut.
Player to watch: Viktor Tsygankov was my scouting report last week and now he comes up against a slightly underperforming Juventus without Cristiano Ronaldo.
Rennes vs Krasnodar
With Chelsea and Sevilla (the two biggest clubs in the group) going off against each other this matchday, these two teams will be battling for the opportunity to take early steps to a surprising qualification.
Player to watch: Eduardo Camavinga is a 17-year-old French senior international and an absolute beast. Also look out for previous scouting report alumni, Jeremy Doku.
Chelsea vs Sevilla
One of the biggest games of the first matchday, Europa League winners, Sevilla go against Chelsea - who are coming off their best attacking performance of the season.
Chelsea are still a bit of a rabble defensively, so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.
Player to watch: Christian Pulisic had his first game back from injury and looked awesome, playing a huge part in two Chelsea goals. A lot better than I thought he’d be in the first game back. I’m looking forward to seeing how he plays this mid-week game.
Lazio vs Dortmund
Yesss. This would usually be a lock for the soccer hipster match of the day. However, Lazio have started the season pretty poor, and Dortmund have been up to their old tricks in some matches too.
Both teams have flaws, which should mean there’s some goals in this one. Dortmund also rested a bunch of players over the weekend, so expect them to be firing.
Player to watch: Erling Haaland is an absolute beast and should be able to have a good day against an undermanned Lazio. One of my favorite players at the moment - prospect or not… This rookie sticker of his is a good get but any of his rookie product is great.
Barcelona vs Ferencvaros
We all know Ferencvaros are going to win this game… it’s just a matter of by how much…
Seriously though, even though Barca are in poor form, they should be able to do away with their Hungarian opponents this match.
However Ferencvaros don’t really have anything to lose here, so who knows...
Player to watch: Ansu Fati is an absolute jet and has started in great form. I’d be expecting him to have a great game. They also have some young Argentinian dude named Lionel Messi - I’d definitely keep an eye on him.
PSG vs Man United
Man United knocked PSG out of the Champions League about 18 months ago, in a performance that earned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the full time manager job (some could make the joke about that making Man United the real loser… but I won’t do that).
This should be a good match, PSG have so much quality going forward, but have shown to be somewhat suspect on the counter - which is fortunate for Man United… because they’ve only really been able to create chances on the counter this season.
Easily the biggest match of the day.
Player to watch: Take your pick here. There’s so many great players…
But for me, the most important player in this game is actually David de Gea… With Harry Maguire out, United will be even more undermanned in the backline, and de Gea will need to have a great game because I think this has the potential for him to have a busy night.
Leipzig vs Istanbul Basaksehir
The other half of the ‘group of death’ is RB Leipzig and Turkish champions, Istanbul Basaksehir. For Leipzig, PSG, and Man United, qualification could hinge on how they perform against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Leipzig, without Time Werner (now at Chelsea) haven’t missed a beat this season and are at the top of the Bundesliga. Basaksehir, on the other hand… well, the less said about them the better right now.
Let’s just say that they haven’t’ had the start they’d have wanted.
Player to watch: Dani Olmo has started the year off really well for Leipzig and has been one of the more consistent performers in the Bundesliga this season.
Final Thoughts
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Great article